This episode is chalk full of plot twists and spoilers. It focuses on Kou Satomi, the Book Maker. Kou tells us in this episode that his favorite new toy has become Chinatsu. Kou seems to feed off of drama and loves to stir the pot. Chinatsu and Suzuko’s relationship is nothing short of angsty and dramatic. Chinatsu is still making contracts for Kou and even brings by Shirai. Shirai hates Kou from the get go. You can’t blame him for it because Kou is creepy and offensive.

Japanese Title: 闇 / 渇望と喪失

Plot

Chinatsu and Shirai get into a scuffle. Shirai keeps trying to remind Chinatsu of when they first met and how endearing she was versus the cold girl she has become now. Chinatsu draws the conclusion that now Suzuko and Shirai are trying to tie her down, so she storms off because no one understands her.

Meanwhile, Hanna is still training Suzuko in WIXOSS. In fact, Hanna points out that Suzuko’s strength is her unpredictability. Her tactics deviate from traditional WIXOSS strategy, which throws players off. Suzuko even beats Hanna at their table match. Suzuko continues to pay for her lessons by bringing Hanna sweets. For today’s training, she repays her with muffins that her mother had taught her how to make. Hanna asks if Suzuko cooks with her mom a lot to which Suzuko informs her that her mother has passed away. Around the time that her mother died is when she met Chinatsu, who helped her through her grief. Hanna lets on that she too has lost a family member. Her younger brother fell off a construction site and died when Hanna was very small.

As Suzuko is on her way home, she comes across Chinatsu. She yells after her that she’s going to preserve their memories. She says she’ll do it by getting stronger and then she won’t ever have to rely on Chinatsu again. Chinatsu plays tough and brushes it off, but something about what Suzuko said strikes a chord and makes her tear up.

The Book Maker has set up several matches for that very day. He sets himself up against Narumi, the blonde haired boy who lost his sister. Naturally, he has ulterior motives. It turns out that Kou is the one that defeated Aye, Narumi’s little sister and made her disappear. Narumi becomes so enraged in battle that he begins lashing out blindly. Kou is delighted by Narumi’s temper, and lets him know that he was just an LRIG before he beat Aya. That’s the bomb drop. Kou is actually a selector who lost and his LRIG took over his body! He’s an LRIG making battles for other LRIGs. The whole concept threw me a bit. He quickly defeats Narumi, and Aya, his LRIG, takes over Narumi’s body. It’s like Kou is building an army of LRIGs.

Hanna loses a battle against a new entity named Mizushima Kiyoi, who warns her repeatedly not to investigate into WIXOSS any further. Hanna, of course is overwhelmingly curious. Kiyoi’s LRIG ability is clairvoyance and she has the power to see into a selector’s hopes and dreams into the future. She mentions she has seen countless selectors’ dreams fail and they never get to realize their wishes. Hanna left the park confused and suspicious.

While Hanna and Narumi are battling, Suzuko finds a selector at the par to practice her new skills. After her interaction with Chinatsu, she is determined to get stronger each and every day. Suzuko has changed quite a bit over the past few episodes. She has finally taken the initiative to learn WIXOSS and battle strategies. Hopefully, we’ll see her through to her dreams. Or maybe Chinatsu and Suzuko’s LRIGs will take over both of them and Kou will have his super army.

Themes

Loss: Almost every selector that we have come across seems to have lost something. Whether it is someone, an object, or they are facing a hardship. Suzuko, Narumi, and Hanna have all lost family members. Chinatsu is facing difficult family troubles. Shirai has lost the ability to play his beloved soccer. It’s almost like WIXOSS preys on those who have it rough because they have more motivation to fight for something.

Sexuality: Kou likes to make everything sexual. I’m not really sure why, I suppose it is a quirk of his. For example, when Shirai and Chinatsu come in to see him, he asks, ‘How was she when you did the deed?’ What he means is the battle, but Shirai gets furious.

Comments

I am really intrigued to see what happens next with this series. I didn’t expect Kou to be an LRIG at all. I knew there was something sinister about WIXOSS, but now I want to know where it’s leading up to. What happens when the selectors win their battles? Where do selectors disappear to when they lose all their coins? I look forward to see what else we’ll find out next week.